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William Thompson
Rev. William Thompson (?1712-1766?) was an English poet. Life Thompson was born at Brough, Westmoreland in 1712 or 1713, the second son of Francis Thompson (1665-1735), vicar of Brough, by his wife, the widow of Joseph Fisher, archdeacon of Carlisle. He was educated at Appleby, and matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford, on 26 March 1731, earning a B.A. in 1735 and an M.A. on 26 Feb. 1738–9, and was elected a fellow of his college, While still an undergraduate, in 1734, he wrote Stella, sive Amores, tres Libri, and two years later, Six Pastorals, but considered neither production worthy of publication.Carlyle, 227. He succeeded to the rectory of Hampton Poyle with South Weston in Oxfordshire. In 1745, while at Hampton Poyle, he published Sickness: A poem (London, 4to), in which he paid a tribute to the memory of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, both recently dead. In 1751 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Oxford Professor of Poetry against William Hawkins, and in the same year published Gondibert and Bertha: A tragedy (London, 8vo), the subject of which was taken from D'Avenant's poem Gondibert. In 1753 he superintended an edition of Joseph Hall's Virgidemiarum. In 1756, on the presentation to the university of the Pomfret statues, he wrote Gratitude (Oxford, 8vo), a poem in honour of the donor, Henrietta Louisa Fermor, countess dowager of Pomfret. In 1758 he published Poems on Several Occasions (London, 8vo). He died about 1766, and his library was sold by Thomas Davies (?1712-1785) in 1768. At his death he left manuscript notes and observations on William Browne's Works, which were revised and published by Davies in his edition of Browne's Works (London, 1772, 8vo). Writing Thompson was a close imitator of Edmund Spenser, and marred his work by the needless use of archaic words and phrases. His "Hymn to May," his "Nativity," and his poem on Sickness were once highly esteemed. Publications Poetry *''Sickness: A poem, in three books''. London: R. Dodsley, 1745. Book I, Book II, Book III *''An Hymn to May. London: R. Dodsley / T. Waller / M. Cooper, 1746. *''Poems on Several Occasions; to which is added, Gondibert and Birtha: A tragedy. (2 volumes), Oxford, UK: printed at the Theatre, 1751, 1757. *''Gratitude: A poem on the Countess of Pomfret's benefactions''. Oxford, UK: printed at the Theatre, 1756. *''Garden Inscriptions; by William Thompson, M.A., late fellow of Queen's College Oxon.'' Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1760. *''Poetical Works'' (edited by Thomas Park). London: J. Sharpe, 1808. Play *''Gondibert and Birtha: A tragedy''. printed in Poems, 1751. Edited *Joseph Hall, Virgidemiarum: Satires, in six books. Oxford, UK: R. Clements, 1753.Search results = Joseph Hall Virgidemiarum, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 20, 2016. Web, Dec. 20, 2016. *William Browne, Works. (3 volumes), Lonon: T. Davies, 1772. *Sir John Davies, Poetical Works. London: T. Davies, 1773.Search results = John Davies poetical works, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 20, 2016. Web, Dec. 20, 2016. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:William Thompson, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 20, 2016. Web, Dec. 20, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Dec. 20, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *Rev. William Thompson (1712-1766) info & 13 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;About * Thompson, William (1712?-1766?) Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English clergy Category:English poets Category:Poets